A 9/11 Story Draws a New York Director
At Indian Head's Black Box Theatre, a Play Is Seen as a Cathartic Experience

By Lynn Follmer Thorne
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, September 24, 2006

The trip to see a New York show has been a lot shorter this month in Charles County and the surrounding area.

New York-based director Spider Duncan Christopher is directing the current production at the Black Box Theatre in Indian Head. Since July, he has commuted between Southern Maryland and New York for auditions, rehearsals and now performances of "Recent Tragic Events."

Christopher's diverse theater résumé includes work at the famed Actors Studio, as well as directing and choreography for the Vocal Arts Foundation at the Music Mansion in New York. He also was a founder and the original artistic director and choreographer of Infinity Dance Theater, a company designed for performing artists with disabilities and dancers older than 40.

He had conducted acting workshops at the Black Box Theatre, but Christopher's directing duties have meant trips to Indian Head week after week. He said the powerful script of "Recent Tragic Events" enticed him to be part of the show.

The play examines the impact and aftermath of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I read it, and it was kind of scary because -- wow -- how do you do this? I had never seen it performed and [had] no frame of reference," Christopher said. "But I had a profound experience of being a New York survivor of 9/11."

Written by Craig Wright, an Emmy Award nominee for HBO's "Six Feet Under," the show takes place on Sept. 12, 2001. The lead characters, Waverly and Andrew, meet for a blind date. The scene is a small apartment in Minneapolis, where five actors play six characters grappling with the horrific reality of the previous day.

"I was apprehensive about a play about September 11th," said Craig Hower, artistic director of NobleHeart Theatre, the repertory company at the Black Box. "I'm still cut pretty deeply by it. Would it be too soon? I decided to run the script past a New York director I knew [Christopher]. I didn't want to do anything distasteful. A few weeks later, he got back to me and said not only could it be done tastefully but that he wanted to do it."

In the acting workshops he presents at the Black Box a few times a year, Christopher teaches a method called the Meisner technique, which emphasizes actors' spontaneous reactions to their surroundings, creating truthful happenings in imaginary settings.

"Spider forces an actor to not just memorize and regurgitate text in staged movements, but to actually live truthfully as the character, realistically reacting to each moment, as if for the first time," said Michael Mortensen, who plays Andrew in the current production.

Katherine Prout, who portrays Waverly, said Christopher emphasizes the creative process.

"One of his greatest gifts, and there are many, is his ability to nurture a sense of being free to play with the art of creating theater," she said. "His innate ability to draw things out of his actors is simply amazing."

Prout added: "I was very surprised at his free-form approach to the production, with him being from the professional world of theater. It's been an immense learning experience for me."

Once Christopher was introduced to the script, he considered how to stage it.

"I knew I had a lot to draw on, but I felt the play could easily be a sitcom kind of trap. I didn't want that -- I wanted it to be slice of life," he said. His cast is made up of five actors from his workshops, players he knew could handle the roles. He turned to his own past to bring the show to life.

"I just kept infusing it with the life I knew," Christopher said. "John [Hamilton Jr.] plays Ron, the cynical, politically incorrect alcoholic who says whatever's on his mind. He's kind of the amalgamation of my brothers."

One concept prevalent in the show is referred to as "twin moments," which have also played a part in Christopher's life.

"Katie [Prout] is playing a twin; I was married to a twin. I was painting a moment, twin moments," he said. "There are twin candles and twin shot glasses onstage. The twin towers were struck. My concept was the idea of abstract reality."

"Recent Tragic Events" was first produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in the District in 2002 and later off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in New York. Christopher said he thinks his Southern Maryland production rivals any previous staging.

"I think this could be an off-Broadway hit. Five years later, with the shifts and changes of perception, I think it would be very successful," he said. "This is such a wonderful piece of art, and it deserves to be seen."

Christopher views the show as more than an evening's entertainment -- he said it offers a chance to heal.

"I think the people that are coming to see it are having a cathartic experience," he said. "It is just a rare opportunity for people to see high-quality theater at a profound time."

"Recent Tragic Events" plays through Oct. 8 at the Black Box Theatre in Indian Head. For performance times and ticket information, visithttp://www.indianheadblackbox.org.